Academic Challenge and Engaged Community

When you join the Honors Program, you join an inclusive community whose connections start from your first day on campus and continue after you graduate. Honors students are challenged and empowered both inside the classroom, through small, seminar-style courses taught by talented faculty, and outside the classroom, through Honors extracurricular activities and events.

Over four years, the program helps hone your ability to think independently and lead collaboratively, preparing you to better understand, succeed in, and give back to our complex world.

Benefits of the Moreau Honors Program

Honors Scholars are are expected to contribute to the intellectual, cultural, and civic life of the college. In exchanged, they enjoy many benefits, including:

  • Enriching, cross-disciplinary Honors courses capped at 16 students 
  • Priority registration for all courses

  • Participation in honors-specific co-curricular activities and learning opportunities
  • Advising by the Honors Program Director, Honors Program faculty, and peer mentors

  • Leadership opportunities, including the Honors Advisory Council & Honors Orientation Leaders
  • Grant opportunities to support research, creative work, and conference attendance
  • Special Honors Orientation
  • Dedicated Honors Housing for the first year and options for subsequent years
  • Access to the Honors Lounge, where Honors students can study and relax together

  • Recognition at graduation and Honors notation on transcript

The Honors Academic Experience

The Moreau Honors Program provides students with an immersive learning experience characterized by small, interdisciplinary courses with a community of motivated, curious peers. Students are required to complete five Honors courses, with one taken in their first semester.

One of the features of Honors classes is their smaller class size and seminar-style structure. These elements promote more profound discussions, encourage critical thinking and foster strong connections between both faculty and students. Recent examples of Honors courses include:

  • American Government and Politics
  • Introduction to Graphic Design
  • Buddhism, Nature and Environmental Ethics
  • Team-taught Honors Organic Chemistry of the Cell
  • Global Fictions
  • Biomedical Ethics

In addition, during the spring of their first year, Honor students enroll in Honors 100, a one-credit course aimed at cultivating the Honors community, introducing students to various academic opportunities and nurturing intellectual and civic engagement. In their senior year, Honors students participate in Honors 400, a one-credit course designed for students to collaborate in small groups to design and research projects on compelling interdisciplinary questions that transcend the classroom environment. This course also aids seniors in preparing for professional positions and graduate applications. Both courses are taught by the Director of the Honors Program.

Moreau Honors students visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

How to Apply

Students who wish to be considered for the Moreau Honors Program should provide a statement of interest after submitting their application for admission to the College through the Common Application. The link to submit the statement of interest will be made available in students' Applicant Status Portals.

Selection Process

The Admission Committee works in concert with the Director of the Moreau Honors Program and the Associate Provost in the review and selection of candidates based on their Common Application and supporting admission materials. The Moreau Honors Program draws its members from applicants whose high school experiences demonstrate strong academic, extracurricular, service and leadership qualities. The Committee actively seeks those students who feel as though they will thrive in the close-knit culture described above and who are motivated by the thoughtful, creative, self-reflective and globally minded character of the Moreau Honors Program.

Notification of Acceptance

Students admitted after applying Early Action or Early Decision are typically notified of their acceptance into the Honors Program by the end of January. Students admitted after applying Early Action II or Regular Decision are typically notified of their acceptance into the Honors Program by the end of March.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate as a Moreau Honors Scholar, you must successfully complete a minimum of 15 credits in Honors courses in addition to the Honors First-Year Seminar and the Honors Senior Seminar. Honors Scholars must earn at least 3.50 cumulative and Honors GPAs.

Academically, I always felt challenged...I felt like the best version of my academic self in [my Honors] classes. Socially, I loved living in the same building with other Honors freshmen. It was nice to have a built-in community right at the start.

Moreau Honors Class of 2023 Outcomes

Recent outcomes underscore the benefits experienced by students admitted into the Moreau Honors Program. Explore our full list of recent graduate career and graduate placements.

Applying for Admission

The Common Application

The Common Application is an easy-to-use college application system. You’ll need to provide some basic information about yourself and your family; and some more detailed information about your education and your extracurricular activities. You’ll also be asked to write a 500-650 word essay.

Contact Information

Edward F. McGushin

Edward F. McGushin

Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Moreau Honors Program